Roll call

Chair Paul Livingston, Vice Chair Damon Jeter, Joyce Dickerson, Val Hutchinson, Norman Jackson, Gwendolyn Kennedy, Bill Malinowski, Jim Manning, Greg Pearce, Kit Smith and Kelvin Washington were present at the Richland County Council meeting January 19, 2010.

Animal Care Subcommittee

County Administrator Milton Pope honored the Animal Care Subcommittee with a proclamation recognizing their hard work over the last 12 years in bringing a no kill shelter to the Midlands and educating the public on the difference between animal control and animal care.

Executive session

Following the new money saving plan, the council moved into executive session early in the meeting to save money being paid an outside attorney who was in attendance. Executive session part I lasted more than 30 minutes and resulted in an unexplained proposal involving the TIF update. Greg Pearce suggested the public be given more information on the matter but to no avail.

Public hearing

The primary goal of

the proposed bagging

requirement is to improve

water quality by keeping

yard debris, such as leaves

and grass clippings, out of

storm drainage systems

and, ultimately, out of the

county's streams, rivers and

lakes. As proposed, the bagging

requirement will only

apply to properties that are

one acre or less in residentially

zoned districts. (The

entire proposal can be seen

at www.richlandonline.com/.

A public hearing on the new storm water ordinance brought much discussion. Richard Jenkins spoke against bagging leaves. He said bagging leaves wasn’t the solution to storm water problems. Evan Bunch spoke against bagging leaves and told a story about having to rake and bag leaves for his mother on the coast. It took him over half a day to complete the job.

John Grego was part of the round table committee that hammered out the storm water agreement. He said the planning commission changes will allow water quality to degrade in Richland County. Tracy Smar tout agreed with those sentiments, as did Carol Kososki and Opal Brown.

William DeBard said he was strongly opposed to the storm water ordinance. He said the county got into this mess on its own and needed to get out without affecting citizens. He asked the council and round table committee how much of their land was affected by theses rules.

Bi ll Theus told the council his company would never have purchased a particular plot of land for development if these rules had been in place. He also said he wasn’t a “crazed developer” against the environment, but wanted fair treatment.

Jessica Artz said the round table had come up with a scientific means of improving water quality in the county. Ryan Nevius told everyone that the EPA was discussing a strengthening of water quality rules so the Midlands needed to move toward improving water quality. Mary Nevins agreed with those sentiments.

Bob Gui le said for the county to allow the round table committee to develop storm water requirements and then to change the wording would show they didn’t bargain in good faith and would discourage further citizen participation.

Bill Flowers and Bill Dixon both said they were part of the round table committee and Entitled Property was never discussed. Bagging leaves

Norman Jackson and Kelvin Washington both spoke against the idea of forcing citizens to bag leaves. Both were especially concerned about rural, elderly people who have completely different problems than anyone else in the county. Jackson also pointed out that leaves weren’t the problem anyway. Silt caused the storm drains to stop up and the leaves helped to filter the water so they actually improved water quality.

Pope pointed out that bagging leaves wasn’t required, and the rural areas of the county weren’t part of the ordinance. Gwen Kennedy said the county needed to do more about landscaping companies blowing leaves into the street, which is already illegal.

She said she observed some workers doing that very thing just the other day. Kennedy didn’t say if she reported them to authorities. Besides, she wants the county to crack down on those people who work for Liberty Tax and stand on the curb and wave to people as they pass by.

Joyce Dickerson complimented Forest Acres for having such beautiful streets and said the problem other older neighborhoods have “becoming ghetto” begins with leaves being raked to the curb and piled up.

Val Hutchinson was worried about fining old ladies for not bagging leaves, and Bill Malinowski wanted to know where the storm water goes. Kit Smi th suggested a pilot program to see how the process might work. In the end the ordinance was deferred.

Storm water and the treasurer

The storm water ordinance was passed in near total accord with the wishes of the round table committee. Three ticklish parts were dealt with separately but eventually passed as the committee wished.

County Treasurer David Adams spoke to the council to correct misconceptions made in the months long battle to bring the treasurer’s office more in line with other large counties in the state.

Adams emphatically told the council he asked for a report required by county ordinance on his performance and pay due four years ago and never asked for a raise as was

reported in the The State

newspaper.

After seven months of arguing and nearly four years past due, the council agreed to abide by a salary study to bring the treasurer’s office, the election commission, and the board of registrars into line with what other large counties in South Carolina do.

Citizen’ Input

Glor ia McKnight asked the county do something about a school that had infringed on a buffer between her property and the school. Trees were removed and a track and playground were installed against covenants requiring that land be left as a buffer.

Ali Felschow asked the council to help her resolve a tax dispute. Her business has been assessed too much in taxes for the vehicles she owns, and no one in the county or state will take responsibility for answering her questions. According to Felschow, the state uses some Canadian method for appraising vehicles rather than the Kelly Blue Book. The resulting tax bill is much higher than using an American appraisal method.

County staff members and council members met with both parties before the council moved into executive session II.